- Homewood to reopen next season but its D-Line gondola delivered in 2023 won’t be installed this summer.
- Powdr abandons plans to sell Mt. Bachelor.
- Powdr’s sale of Eldora is said to be in the final stages.
- Le Massif, Quebec signs on to the Ikon Pass.
- New details emerge from the antitrust case against the owner of Song Mountain and Labrador Mountain, New York; he plans to appeal.
- Whaleback, New Hampshire looks toward a new chairlift.
- Sun Valley seeks to be removed from a lawsuit filed by a homeowner regarding the placement of the new Flying Squirrel quad.
- Stratton’s American Express closes early and will reopen for summer later than normal for a major systems modernization.
- The Forest Service approves Steamboat to replace Sunshine Express with a six pack.
- The world’s second largest gondola network is proposed in India with 15 stations and 660 cabins.
- If Bluewood, Washington can’t complete its planned relocation of a used high speed quad from Austria next season, it will keep its Borvig lift and credit passholders $100.
- The US government implements a blanket 20% tariff on goods from the European Union and 31% on products from Switzerland, both major source regions for lift components.
- Skeetawk, Alaska works to repair its only chairlift but snow may run out first.
- Arctic Valley, Alaska’s T-Bar will be inoperable the rest of the season due to an incident damaging the haul rope.
- Holiday Mountain, New York looks to reopen long lost terrain with a third chairlift.
- Alta to realign Supreme this summer, re-doing every foundation and re-using towers and terminals.
- Castle Mountain’s expansion lift to be called Stagecoach Express.
- The owner of Berkshire East and Catamount would operate Burke Mountain under a proposed sale to local investors. The group also plans to refurbish the J-Bar and relocate Willoughby if the sale goes through.
Le Massif
News Roundup: Mega Order
- A Nevada county rejects re-zoning for a new ski area in the Ruby Mountains.
- Le Massif, Quebec is reportedly for sale or looking for an equity partner.
- Sandia Peak, New Mexico apologizes for recent lift downtime.
- Arctic Valley, Alaska’s new master plan envisions three new chairlifts.
- Mantis Ropeway Technologies debuts unmanned autonomous stations on six ropeways in Austria and Switzerland this winter with US expansion planned.
- Consulting firm SCJ Alliance expands its cable-propelled transit division.
- A Denver TV station explores the history of the only lost Vail Resorts mountain.
- Eleven Telluride residents seek to invalidate the successful ballot measure funding a new Mountain Village gondola.
- A Swiss resort group splits a $79 million lift order between Garaventa and Leitner. The former is Garaventa’s largest-ever order and includes the second-ever TRI-Line gondola.
- A straw poll suggests strong resident support for a gondola linking Park City’s Main Street with Deer Valley Resort.
News Roundup: Reimagining
- The Canyons Village Management Association budgets $8 million for a Cabriolet replacement and $9.24 million toward a new gondola on the Canyons side of Park City Mountain.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie adds more chairs to Armstrong Express at Alpental.
- Mt. Bachelor offers Skyliner Express chairs for sale.
- Keystone releases an all new trail map showing the Bergman expansion.
- New owners of Holiday Mountain, New York will host a stakeholder meeting tomorrow to outline rebuilding plans.
- The Whistler Blackcomb Peak 2 Peak Gondola may open late for the summer due to an issue related to ice buildup.
- A former employee who fell 30 feet from a Riblet double without a safety bar while downloading accuses Stevens Pass of negligently operating an old, unsafe chairlift.
- Colorado reports a record 14.8 million skier visits.
- New Hampshire also reports strong results from last season.
- Vail Resorts says season pass sales are trending up 6 percent in units and 11 percent in dollars for next season.
- Le Massif will operate two of its longest lifts for a unique night time sound and light show this summer.
- Highland Mountain Bike Park to close its chairlift for a week to replace the communications line.
- Snowmass receives approval to replace Coney Glade with a realigned and extended detachable quad in 2024.
- Five years after closing, Deer Mountain, South Dakota will reopen as a private club.
News Roundup: Mixed Bag
- The Forest Service sends a notice of noncompliance to Montana Snowbowl over the Snow Park lift incident and response.
- Crystal Mountain’s President departs and Alterra reevaluates the announced Reimagine Crystal plan.
- Lutsen Mountains to retire the 10th Mountain triple.
- Hoodoo reports a Riblet clip ejection of a misloaded chair on the Hodag quad with no injuries to the rider(s).
- Mad River Glen’s Sunnyside double may get a mid-station.
- Le Massif completes a four hour rope evacuation of the Massif Express gondola, now closed for the season due to a gearbox issue.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne’s gondola will reopen tomorrow, four months after a cabin fell off.
- Board members resign from the Antelope Butte board of directors citing lift safety concerns.
- The Balsams says now is not the time to go to market.
- Woods Valley eyes installation of two used CTEC quads over the next few years.
- Big Sky shares photos of new tram cabins being fabricated in Switzerland.
- Two studies see the ropeway market growing around 10 percent annually over the next decade with the North American share growing to near 20 percent of the global total.
- Belleayre announces replacement of Lift 7 with a Doppelmayr quad.
News Roundup: Allegations
- With energy at a premium in Europe, Leitner showcases technology which regulates the speed of a ropeway based on rider demand.
- The nonprofit which has been running Big Squaw says the sale to Big Moose Development still hasn’t been completed and this season will continue as normal.
- Sugarbush confirms a Heaven’s Gate replacement is in the works but it won’t happen in 2023 as lift prices surge and lead times increase.
- Ropeway pioneer Willy Garaventa dies at the age of 88.
- Los Angeles releases the Environmental Impact Statement for the Dodger Stadium gondola project.
- Names for the five new Skytracs at Jack Frost Big Boulder are: Blue Heron, Harmony, Paradise, Pocono and Tobyhanna.
- Groupe Le Massif remains interested in acquiring Mont-Sainte-Anne from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies and would also be open to acquiring Stoneham as part of a deal.
- After multiple years of construction, Ontario’s Mt. Baldy finally has a new chairlift.
- Mount Snow will sell more double, triple and quad chairs for charity.
- New York’s Attorney General sues the owners of Labrador Mountain and Song Mountain, alleging their purchase and closure of nearby Toggenburg was anti-competitive. Former Toggenburg/current Greek Peak owner John Meier agreed to pay the State $195,000 and will cooperate in the case against Labrador and Song’s parent company.
- The Governor of Utah throws his support behind the Little Cottonwood gondola project.
- A new document shows where Mammoth’s relocated Panorama Gondola and new Big Bend chairlift would run as part of the Evolving Main project.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania again seeks an operator to revive the Denton Hill Ski Area.
News Roundup: Time Lapse
- Quebec skier visits rise to 6.3 million, second highest in the last 10 years.
- Colorado posts its best season on record with approximately 14 million skier visits.
- Skier visits were higher than the two previous seasons in Vermont.
- Former Jay Peak head Bill Stenger sits down for an interview to share his side of the story before reporting to prison.
- Granite Gorge sells at auction to local investors who plan to reopen.
- Montana Snowbowl’s new triple chair will be extremely steep (6th steepest chairlift in the country by my count.)
- Aspen Mountain begins Pandora’s construction.
- Le Massif joins the Mountain Collective Pass.
- Lost Trail signs on to the Powder Alliance.
- The landlord for Big Snow American Dream remains in deep financial trouble.
- Park City planning commissioners delay deciding on the Silverlode and Eagle lift replacement projects until at least June 15th, leaving a very narrow window for construction if approved.
- The Cascade Skyline Gondola proposal enjoys wide community support compared to a competing ski resort concept.
- Developers of the Big Moose Mountain project present their case to the Maine Land Use Planning Commission.
- Big White will replace 16 cabins on Lara’s Gondola this summer.
- Dodge Ridge and Mountain High owner Karl Kapuscinski would like to add new high speed lifts at both resorts in the next few years.
- The State of West Virginia plans two eight passenger gondolas to replace older systems at Hawks Nest and Pipestem state parks.
News Roundup: Ramping Up
- As of the January 3rd Utah Passenger Ropeway Safety Committee meeting, Doppelmayr USA had sold approximately 30 lifts for 2022.
- Skytrac is already hiring construction employees for the upcoming build season.
- Sierra at Tahoe installs and splices a new rope on the fire-damaged Grandview Express, a key milestone toward reopening.
- An Italian maintenance technician succumbs to injuries sustained from being hit by a gondola cabin.
- Whaleback closes its chairlift due to a motor issue.
- The New York Times explores why some resorts are experiencing more staff shortages than others, the Denver Post talks with Epic Pass customers from across the country about their experiences this season.
- A number of lifts haven’t opened at Park City this year due to staff shortages; one of Crotched Mountain’s four chairlifts has no chairs on it.
- Vail Resorts Executive Chairperson Rob Katz joins the Storm Skiing Podcast to talk about remarkable growth of the company and this season’s challenges.
- Passholders at Stevens Pass are offered $150 off next year’s pass or the same amount in resort credit as a result of operational difficulties.
- Vail offers $13.1 million to settle lawsuits alleging labor violations.
- Le Massif introduces a Kevin Mastin trail map showing its new lift and removal of a disused gondola.
- Poma provides an update on the world’s largest current 3S project.
- Another insightful podcast: Indy Pass founder Doug Fish on the growth of that product.
- Lake Louise says testing of the Juniper Express is underway with a delayed opening now planned for February.
- The agency operating three New York State ski areas proposes a $105 million capital budget for 2023.
- Gore Mountain unveils a $30 million redevelopment plan for the North Creek Ski Bowl including replacing the Hudson triple with a longer detachable quad.
- A Colorado county passes on partnering with Florida developers to reopen Cuchara.
- Big Snow American Dream still doesn’t know when it will reopen.
- The City of Burnaby, British Columbia officially endorses the Burnaby Mountain Gondola proposal.
- Alaska’s newest ski area will need at least $10 million to install its next lift.
News Roundup: Even Ten
- Boyne Resorts acquires its tenth ski area: Shawnee Peak, Maine.
- A new trail map shows Loon Mountain’s gondola is now called the White Mountain Express.
- A Bloomberg profile notes visitation has grown 46 percent in five years at Big Sky with major development to continue.
- Snow Partners becomes the new corporate umbrella for Mountain Creek, Big Snow American Dream, Snow Operating and more.
- A new model of the Sigma Diamond EVO cabin will debut first at Austria’s Kaunertaler Gletscher.
- Whiteface proposes a high speed quad with angle station from Bear Den to the new Legacy Lodge and may replace Little Whiteface and Mountain Run with a quad in 2022.
- Boyne Mountain General Manager Ed Grice takes a deep dive on six future lift projects.
- The new Cape Smokey gondola is carrying thousands of riders on peak fall days.
- A conveyor project is delayed a year due to components being stuck on a ship near the Port of Houston.
- Welch Village also says it’s waiting for parts of its new chairlift.
- Le Massif adds a Doppelmayr platter to service the new Club Med Québec-Charlevoix.
- Crystal Mountain President Frank DeBerry says replacing Rainier Express is a top priority. Alterra also wants to swap the Mt. Rainier Gondola for a higher capacity machine and turn the existing gondola into a base area-Campbell Basin link. Bullion Basin Express, an East Peak lift, Kelly’s Gap Express and Northway detachable all remain under consideration.
- Reader Austin S. sent in the below photos from Mt. Shasta, purported to be clearing for a new lift on Gray Butte.
Instagram Tuesday: Grand Gondolas
Pulse Lifts
These days building a detachable lift means a capital investment of at least $3 million plus around $100,000 in annual maintenance. A so-called ‘pulse’ lift offers the speed of a detachable system with similar infrastructure to a traditional fixed-grip lift. Chairs or cabins are grouped together into ‘pulses’ and the entire lift slows down for loading and unloading. When comparing types of aerial lifts there are always trade-offs; here they include low capacity and long headways. Most pulse lifts can only move 300-600 passengers per hour and headway – the time a passenger has to wait for a carrier to show up – can be minutes instead of as low as six seconds. Perfect for certain applications but unsuitable in most.
There are currently 17 pulse lifts operating in the US, Canada and Mexico; all but three are gondolas. Nearly all were built in the last 15 years. Panorama Mountain Village, Northstar California, Steamboat, Snowmass, Canyons Resort, and Le Massif all use pulse gondolas to connect village areas. These lifts are usually less than 3,000 feet long and convenient for skiers and non-skiers alike. Other pulse gondolas are attractions in their own right such the Iron Mountain Tramway at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, SkyTrail at Trees of Mystery, the Gondola at Royal Gorge Bridge Bridge & Park and the Riverfront Park SkyRide in Spokane. There is also a new Leitner-Poma pulse gondola in Orizaba, Mexico with tripod towers that are hundreds of feet tall.
Snow Valley in Edmonton, Alberta has a very unique pulse chairlift built by Doppelmayr in 2008. Instead of having groups of 3-5 chairs, it has just two groups of 20 closely-spaced quad chairs. Because it is only 850 feet long, the lift can move 1,378 skiers per hour at up to 5 m/s, the same speed as most detachable lifts. In fact the ride is only about a minute. The lift slows to a beginner-friendly 0.8 m/s for loading and unloading. Because of the low speed, skiers ride around the bullwheel at the top and unload facing down the hill. It’s the only lift I know of with 180-degree unloading.
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